from the New Mexico News Connection - A Statewide News Service for New MexicoLAS CRUCES, N.M. - Topping off the tank is getting more expensive, critics say, as drivers pay for their fuel in two places. At the same time drivers are paying at the pump, according to the Progress Now New Mexico Education Fund, taxpayers are giving $4 billion a year in tax breaks to the oil and gas industry.

The nonprofit group calls attention to these tax breaks in a new radio advertising campaign. Its executive director, Pat Davis, says the ads point out that one New Mexico congressman has supported the breaks eight times since February 2011: Republican Rep. Steve Pearce.

"We hope that Congressman Pearce will get to hear from constituents who know there are bigger problems right now than oil and gas profits. Hopefully, they'll have that conversation with him, and we hope to change his mind."

Davis says his group wants to get people thinking about whether it's appropriate to be offering tax breaks to for-profit companies, when that money could be used instead to spur the economy by helping green industries and hiring more people in local businesses.

Ariel Bickel of central New Mexico says she tries to work as much as possible from home to avoid the pain at the pump. She believes many people suffer from high gas prices in silence, feeling that there isn't anything they can do to change them. She hopes the radio spots will convince them that they have some power on this issue - as voters.

"What really upsets me is, I think there's preying on the despair of people to promote this wave of anger that's misplaced. This is why getting the truth out about the issues is so imperative."

The group Taxpayers for Common Sense has a list of 14 oil and gas tax breaks, with names such as "percentage depletion allowance" and "intangible drilling costs." Together, it says, these amount to more than $2.5 billion each year.

March 28, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Local energy-efficiency programs are working in New Mexico and across the nation, according to a new report, and Albuquerque is home to several examples.

Designing buildings with smart energy use in mind is beneficial to the economy as well as the environment, says developer Gary Goodman, chief executive officer of Goodman Realty.

"If somebody's not spending money on their gas or electric bill, they're spending it in goods and services in the cities they live in. When they do that, it churns the economy far more than spending that same money on a utility bill."

In 40 years as a developer, Goodman says, he's learned the value of energy efficiency over time. When his company renovated the Hotel Andaluz, he says, it installed a high-efficiency solar water heating system. Before the renovation, he says, the hotel used 1 million gallons of water a month. Since the remodel, he says, it uses about a third of that.

Among the features of the Andaluz, New Mexico's only LEED-certified hotel, is something Goodman calls "constant energy management."

"The act of somebody checking in automatically brings a room up to temperature. When somebody leaves the room, it goes back. When they return, it goes up again."

Another LEED-certified building is the Silver Gardens apartments in Albuquerque. Formerly a bus station, it is now a winner of a Smart Growth Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. Developer Theresa Bell says it was designed to help lower residents' energy costs.

"It saves the tenants $25 to $50 a month; that's somebody's groceries or gas. It saves the owner thousands of dollars in common-area utilities expenses."

Both Bell and Goodman are developing new buildings they say will have even more innovative energy-saving systems. By focusing on energy efficiency, says Environment New Mexico, the state could reduce its emissions from power generation by almost a third by 2030.

March 21, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoLAS CRUCES, N.M. - A coalition of business and political leaders, archaeologists, historians and civic groups is calling for a new national monument for New Mexico.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks proposal would help Doña Ana County focus on what Commissioner Billy Garrett considers high-quality growth, to draw tourists, new residents and businesses into the area.

He points out that Las Cruces is the state's second largest city.

"We know that Doña Ana County is going to grow. The current projections are that we're going to increase from about 200,000 people to 350,000 people by 2040."

Garrett points to the area's history, scenery and heritage in identifying what makes it attractive to those who want to relocate. He believes creating a national monument is critical to protecting these values.

New Mexico historian Jon Hunner calls the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks area a multi-layered landscape which reflects the history of the desert Southwest, in the upheaval and volcanic activity in its geology. When Hunner thinks about the economy and the city of Las Cruces, he thinks about natural beauty.

"To have this national monument surrounding it would provide an impetus for heritage tourism and also for people who are interested in the natural resources - birders, geologists, people who just want to come and see a desert landscape."

Hunner considers the national monument a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect the Mesilla Valley's important American and New Mexican history.

In its 100th year as a state, New Mexico is looking to preserve tokens of history which trace back through the Camino Real, the space race, World War II, volcanoes and petroglyphs. Garrett says there are many treasures to be rediscovered in these 500,000 acres.

"They did find remains of a giant sloth in Kilbourne Hole, which is near the lava flow. And that, as I understand, is now in the Peabody Museum."

Kilbourne Hole is also the site where Apollo astronauts trained for walking on the moon in 1969. Garrett believes this and other sites within the proposed monument area will be of interest to eco-tourists, archaeologists and sportsmen, which could also be a boon to the New Mexico economy.Beth Blakeman reporting, nmnc@newsservice.org

March 06, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoROSWELL, N.M. - The New Mexico Agriculture Department wants to expand its ongoing battle against feral hogs. The list of plants and animals they threaten directly and indirectly is long. It includes deer, reptiles, rabbits and the food sources of eagles and coyotes.

Alan May, the state director for USDA Wildlife Services, calls the hogs an "environmental and economic disaster." He has no kind words about them.

"They prey on native wildlife. They prey on young livestock. They compete with native wildlife for limited food resources. They transmit diseases to both livestock and wildlife."

Feral hogs also damage crops and property, May says, and contaminate water supplies. He wants to eliminate the animals from New Mexico, and he says land management and wildlife agencies support the idea. The challenge is coming up with the funding, he adds.

Although May has not yet determined how much money would be needed to eradicate the hogs, he knows where he wants to start.

"Right now, the population farthest west that we have is along the Middle Rio Grande Valley. We really want to stop those pigs first. We don't want pigs to spread to points west from there."

It's believed the hogs were brought in from nearby states by people who released them on private property to hunt, for sport. New Mexico now has laws against such paid hunts, as well as laws prohibiting transporting or releasing feral swine in the state.

Every year, May says, feral hogs cause more than $1 billion in damages nationwide, so it's important to do more, and act quickly.

The New Mexico Livestock Board has posted information about feral swine problems at www.nmlbonline.com.

February 27, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The New Mexico arm of Food and Water Watch is actively involved with an effort to stop the nation's top ten grocery retailers and food processors from selling genetically-modified sweet corn, grown from seeds developed by Monsanto.

Eleanor Bravo, New Mexico state organizer for the nonprofit food and water safety advocacy group, says most people have already eaten canned or frozen GM food (also called GE, for genetically-engineered) without knowing it, but this is the first time it would be sold fresh in supermarkets.

Bravo says the campaign is focused most intensely on Walmart, and believes it would significantly affect the food supply for New Mexicans.

"New Mexico relies heavily on Walmart stores because we don't have any more local grocery store chains."

Food and Water Watch is organizing protests and petition drives to encourage Walmart to reject using crops grown from the modified corn seed. On its website, Monsanto says "The FDA has found there is no basis for concluding that bioengineered foods present any different or greater safety concern than foods developed by traditional plant breeding."

The genetically-engineered corn seed was quickly given the go-ahead by the Food and Drug Administration and the USDA. The same traits now in the biotech corn had received previous approvals in 2005 and 2008, although Bravo says that's not good enough.

"We're still uncertain. These three traits have never been approved together, and this food is going to be consumed directly by people."

According to Bravo, Food and Water Watch has already learned that General Mills, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods do not intend to sell or use the GE corn in their products.

Other coalition members asking retailers and food processors to refuse to sell the biotech corn include Center for Environmental Health, Center for Food Safety, CREDO, Action and Food Democracy Now!

More information is available at www.foodandwaterwatch.org . Monsanto's information on its GM products is at www.monsanto.com .Beth Blakeman reporting, nmnc@newsservice.org

February 09, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoTAOS, N.M. - Taos High School enlisted in the Green Ribbon Schools program for the 2011-2012 school year. The U.S. Department of Education introduced the program with the idea of producing more engaged, better educated students.

Gillian Cardillo teaches the high school's environmental leadership class. She says she's seeing improved public speaking skills, and maybe a little math progress, as the students work out a real-life problem.

"There's a leak in our school. They had to go out and measure how much it's leaking, and then they had to figure how much it was for a day, and a week, and a month and a year."

Cardillo sees more of a team attitude among the members of the class now than at the start of the semester. This is the first year of the environmental leadership class at Taos High.

Cardillo's class works on recycling and composting for the school. She says something interesting is beginning to happen: The students are taking their work home and into their community. An anti-plastic-water-bottle campaign they developed has expanded into a critical look at the corporate climate, she says.

"There have been a lot of anti-corporate sentiments, and these are from kids who are incredibly materialistic. We're seeing a turnaround, especially with Occupy Wall Street, where they're like, 'Wow, corporations really are doing the wrong thing and we need to stand up to them.'"

Fifteen other New Mexico schools are involved in a different green program, Eco-Schools USA. It originated in Denmark and was launched two years ago in the U.S. by the National Wildlife Federation. The Federation's science education specialist, Jennifer Hammonds, says some "green schools" are discovering benefits beyond the education.

"Energy projects, consumption projects and waste projects students participate in can provide tremendous savings for school districts."

February 03, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A coalition of businesses along the Colorado River took its concerns about water supply-and-demand issues to Washington this week. Members of the group "Protect the Flows" shared potential solutions with the Interior Department and members of Congress.Recreation and tourism are the lifeblood of the West, says Steve Harris, who runs Far Flung Adventures in El Prado. He supports the establishment of water banks, a system where business users can make water "deposits" and "withdrawals." "In a time where this disparity between supply and demand is starting to grow, this is a new way of sharing limited water resources."Harris says the group's proposals are practical ideas for preserving the river. The Colorado provides drinking water for 36 million Americans, irrigates nearly 4 million acres of land and supports nearly 800,000 jobs in seven states including 47,000 in New Mexico.Protect the Flows also suggests giving rebates for using swimming pool covers. Harris says the water savings is significant. "A recreational swimming pool in a backyard in this arid Colorado River Basin evaporates 14,000 gallons a year."Addressing water waste and landscape design are other ways to conserve Colorado River water, Harris says. For instance, Albuquerque has restricted hours for watering lawns and issues citations for violating them. He says xeriscaping - landscaping to minimize the need for watering - is common now in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. "It's now the law in those cities that all new construction will have these water-saving features. Landscape irrigation is about half of a family's water consumption."One phase of a study on Colorado River use closes this week. The Bureau of Reclamation has been gathering proposals from numerous groups working to resolve the growing imbalance between the river's water demand and supply.More information is on the Interior Department's Lower Colorado River website, http://www.usbr.gov/ , Protect the Flows is at http://protectflows.com/

January 19, 2012

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoLAS CRUCES, N.M. - Hispanic leaders in southwestern New Mexico are calling on Congress and the president to permanently protect the Organ Mountains and nearby Desert Peaks region. Hundreds of letters from Latinos are being sent to Washington, D.C., asking for greater protections for public lands.

John Muñoz, president of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, says the area is culturally important - particularly to Hispanics and Native Americans.

"The Camino Real or the Butterfield Trail, those are key as far as settlers in early times. For the Native Americans, some of these lands are mystical, and have a religious and cultural connection."

The Organ Mountains-Doña Ana County Conservation and Protection Act (S 1024) is sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall. It isn't the first time the two New Mexico lawmakers have tried to protect nearly 400,000 acres of public land in Doña Ana County.

Muñoz also sees protecting these lands as an opportunity for a long-term economic boost for Hispanic workers and business owners struggling to make a living in the area. It has tourism and research value as home to thousands of ancient Native American petroglyphs and pictographs on canyon walls.

Some of these lands have received interim protection as Wilderness Study Areas, but Muñoz says others are vulnerable to a variety of threats.

"If we leave these lands open and not protected, leave them open to development, it would mar the land that we have. It's like taking a classic painting and coming to it with crayons and making a mess of it."

Communities in Action and Faith (CAFÉ) Executive Director Sarah Nolan says the area that her faith-based community organization is seeking to protect offers something unique.

"The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks region ranges from 9,000-foot mountains to volcanic craters. Some things we are used to seeing are desert mule deer and three different species of quail, and we have javelina come through New Mexico here."

Passage of the bill would mean more than 271,000 acres designated as wilderness, and the creation of a National Conservation Area of over 100,000 acres around the Organ and Doña Ana Mountains and parts of Broad Canyon.Beth Blakeman reporting, nmnc@newsservice.org

December 27, 2011

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New MexicoSANTA FE, N.M. - New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has made boosting opportunities for small businesses in the state a priority, but several groups dealing with environmental and health care issues say those efforts are falling short.

One of the groups crying "foul" over the small business initiatives is Food and Water Watch. State organizer Eleanor Bravo says one of Martinez's early actions upon taking office was to form the "Small Business Friendly Task Force." Bravo says small is not what this task force is about.

"Well, it is neither small, nor business-friendly. It is made up of big lobbyist corporations."

Bravo says Martinez has been the target of numerous complaints that campaign contributors were recipients of special treatment resulting in regulation relief that led to the dismantling of rules already in place and to questionable lease awards.

The governor says she simply is trying to "create an environment where small businesses and entrepreneurs can thrive and hire workers." She added that "requires New Mexico to be competitive with other states so that New Mexico businesses do not flee elsewhere."

Barbara Webber, executive director of Health Action New Mexico, says big business is also calling the shots on health care reform. She points to the governor calling for a Medicaid redesign for New Mexico without involving the legislature, and sweeping health insurance changes, as prime examples.

"Transparency that she campaigned on has not always been in force. There may be an agenda and we don't know what that agenda is for sure."

Webber says the Martinez administration appears to be leaning toward big business in its dealings concerning the Health Insurance Exchange - so suspected because the industry-member group, Health Insurance Alliance, has been appointed to the exchange's board of directors. The Alliance has representatives from Lovelace, Presbyterian, Blue Cross-Blue Shield and United Health Care on its board, all large organizations. Beth Blakeman reporting, nmnc@newsservice.org